Neil Conway <neilc@samurai.com> writes:
> Do you think it would be worth the trouble to use both algorithms, and
> then test on the node tag of the first element to decide which one to
> use? (The assumption being lists are homogeneous).
Hard to tell. Since I haven't seen any evidence that equal() on lists
is a particular hotspot, I'd lean against adding complexity and
maintenance burden here.
> One thing I've been wondering about is whether it would be worth ripping
> out the existing List code wholesale, and replacing it with something
> like the following:
I have already done something much like this in a few hotspots using the
FastList structure. But notationally, it's a pain in the neck compared
to the existing List code. If you can think of a way to implement this
without adding a lot of notational cruft, I'd sure be for it. I'm not
for it if it imposes as much messiness as the FastList approach does...
regards, tom lane